Talk:Arcanology/@comment-71.243.255.254-20120318042827/@comment-7882283-20120318135012
@contributor Long answer ahoy! You've been warned. Short answer, no. Long answer, yes and no, but it's not quite the way you're thinking. You can't think of them as skills, they're three distinct biological types - like mammals, reptiles and birds. You are born into one or none of them. The three types describe where essent comes from and how it's used – essent is an energy we use to interface with the natural energies present in all things, living and otherwise. Long story short: * Residual: Convert ley into essent and "inject" a trace amount of it into the object(s) we want to manipulate to "harmonize" with the natural energies. * Inherent: Produce essent within the body, forcibly replace the energies in the objects we want to manipulate. * Elemental: Forgo essent entirely, and manipulate the natural energies directly. Also: residual magic can do what elemental magic can do (though probably not with as much precision), and inherent magic has virtually limitless potential. You can imagine each type of magic user like they're radios stuck on a small range of frequencies, and all the natural energies in the world exist on specific ones. Stone, dirt, wood - all these exist under a similar "group" of frequencies we can call "earth". Earth elementalists can tap into this group. Residual users can tap into the same group, and more, without restriction, and inherent users can tap into practically anything. What this looks like is: inherent > residual > elemental, but don't get me wrong. A single element Cervid could produce magic far more stable and durable than most unicorns. Now, on to the question: yes, you can obtain inherent magic, no matter what type of user you are. Elemental magic? Only if you're not already a residual user. * Inherent magic, unlike the other types, can be "transferred" - however, this destroys the original host. This is tremendously dangerous. This has only ever been done between inherent users, like Dragons or Tapiri. If it were ever done to a pony, I'd imagine they wouldn't survive the process. Also, both parties must be willing - that power can't be stolen or forced. * Elemental magic requires a catalyst (a personal trinket that is very important to you, imbued with a little of the elemental energy that you believe you're compatible with). Great care if necessary. If you try to couple with an element that completely betrays your personality type or compatibility, this can kill you, and in all cases will destroy the catalyst. * Residual magic requires a biological "conduit" - like a horn or antlers. It acts as a "net" for ley energy. You cannot "obtain" residual magic, you are only born into it. All that said, there are ways to enhance your power. The ultimate method would be to find a great and powerful demigod who is conveniently willing to part with his power (good luck with that XD), but when that fails, you can use tools: * Enchanted gems: charged with "disposable" essent, they can be used to amplify magic (for magi) or fire bursts of magic ("packaged" spells). You don't even need to be magi to use one! * Enchantments: elementally charged weapons (e.g. an earth enchanted arrow could substitute for a real world RPG, or an aether bullet could potentially shoot through walls) * Staves: if you are a residual user, staves make great "passive amplifiers" - allowing you to harmlessly absorb ley into the stave to collect for bursts. It's difficult (and sometimes dangerous) to "store" essent in your body, so this serves as an alternative. Of course, all these are guidelines. I'm sure that under the right circumstances, a rule can be bent for the purpose of a good story. Write responsibly! XD Hope that helps.